1. Flat design thrives

If you think this was just another fad, then you are mistaken. Flat design is minimalist design on steroids. It’s about keeping it simple, clean and modern which are words you often hear out of most clients’ mouths.

The reason why everybody is using flat design is because it makes sense. We have less clutter, more use of white space and overall a better user experience. It forces designers to achieve more by using less and for that, I consider it the number one trend for 2014.

2. Responsive design is a must

This will become a standard, no question about it. Clients will ask for it, developers will learn the coding requirements and then subsequently push for it. The reasoning is simple: demand. Since smartphones and tablets are selling like hotcakes there is huge marketing potential. You’ll see even your smallest business owner talking about it because they’re seeing responsive in action on other sites.

3. Websites showcase better images

Designers have been pushing for better images for a long time, yet they’ve always had trouble on the client side. 2014 will bring higher quality, more creative and unique images because of multiple reasons: pricing is affordable; loading speed is faster than ever; access to high quality images is everywhere.

4. Parallax websites grow in popularity

Long gone are the days of the 960 pixel website that had to work great on IE6. It’s all about the impact and making a BIG statement. Parallax design achieves that successfully with its scrolling mischief, powerful imagery, and strong and creative typography. You will see more and more of this in 2014 especially from big brands

5. Infographics remain the best way of representing data

They present a lot of information in a small space, they’re eye-catching and they don’t cost the world. That’s why business owners are asking for them. The end-user likes infographics because each of them has its own personality — they’re a bit quirky, they combine typography, bold color schemes and shapes in a way that intrigues viewers.

Creatives who take them seriously always create a story atmosphere around their facts and numbers. Maybe it brings us back to our childhood comics, maybe it’s just the eye candy. Fact is, we’re absorbing loads of information and we love it. Because it’s such an effective way of communicating large pieces of data, it will definitely be used more and more in 2014.

6. Typography takes center stage

Goodbye Georgia, goodbye Times New Roman, goodbye Helvetica! Welcome to 2014 — the year where typography gets serious. Actually it was always serious, now it’s just arriving at mainstream status. The avalanche of mobile apps we’ve all been swimming in has exposed our eyes to all sorts of typography goodies and that has had a major factor in our font usage expectations.

Arial is no longer good enough because of the availability of high quality fonts at affordable prices. The user is accustomed to them to the point where he feels something is missing if he’s staring at the same ole’ Helvetica and on the other hand the business owner is no longer paying an arm and a leg for a complete font family.

7. Websites simplify and focus on content

The New York Times recent redesigned website speaks volumes about this up and coming trend through it’s simpler, cleaner approach which aims to offer a far better user experience. While this isn’t anything new, I believe more and more websites, especially those that are content-heavy, will follow suit as this is the next logical step. Stripping away all the bells and whistles allows the actual content to shine and makes the design perform its actual role, instead of it trying to steal the spotlight.

8. Short presentation videos re-emerge

I think presentation videos will re-emerge in 2014 because of the Vine explosion. The six second videos are more likely to go viral, they’re easy to make and everybody seems to love them. In the last few years, we’ve seen a constant shortening of videos and this upcoming year will promote under 30 second clips to get the point across — you can thank Vine for that.

9. Newsletter designs continue to improve

Email marketing is no longer the only way to reach our audience, but it still is a medium that keeps your users interested in your content. In 2014, newsletters will stay afloat by being more creative and more exciting. So even though it’s not the preferred channel anymore, it’s not going to die anytime soon — smart business owners are recognizing the shift that’s happening.

10. Fixed navigations gets lots of love

There was a time when designers felt the need to over-design just about anything on the page, including the main menu. Thankfully those times are gone, and we no longer need to look for a flash menu hidden under a ribbon somewhere on the side of the screen.

In 2014, navigation bars will be available at all times! So, if you’re dealing with a content heavy website, then a fixed position sidebar or top menu will be the logical approach.

The author

Barin Cristian Doru aka 'thislooksgreat' is an experienced web designer and proud member of the 99designs community: http://99designs.com/people/thislooksgreat
Besides creating awesome website designs, he is also an entrepreneur, an Android App Developer and a content creator. His work ranges from freebie PSD files to small tips & tricks in Photoshop, all the way to a premium 16 hour long course on how to succeed on 99designs.

Great Post – I will add though, Parallax websites are a pain to get to work across devices – and SEO copywriting with an emphasis on Semantic Search is a “Must have” across all website designs now that Content is King!

All points made here are very clear. Adding to point one the power of an image, it is not only important to have it high quality, but to have it spark emotion. twothousandtimes.com does an excellent job of creating this sense of place simply by a photo. Static page, no scrolling. Some other sites such as soulpancake.com have achieved a similar following with their images.

Web designing is make a trend to get a best design website and fully customize. Every candidate want to create a best design for their website because a design is a single source that make a website very attractive and impressive for the users. So i agree with all the points of the writer and admire to their experience to write these kind of informative post for the designers.

I get what you’re saying when you refer to typography, large images & minimalist design still having a great influence over how many sites are designed today but the sticky navigation is not a big favorite of mine when it comes to website design.
It’s common amongst designers but do users of the site actual find it worthy & does it contribute to the user-friendliness?! Also, off-canvas menus are another thing I’m not a huge fan of because it does take time for users to get accustomed to it.

I suggest to try http://www.madomination.com.au they are a small business that provides professional design/hosting for cheap prices to get good reputation, at the time of writing this post their prices are really affordable but they might increase their prices upon finding good reputation

Most of the web designers are showing there skills up and creating a massive unique designs for the websites. The look of a website comes only with the design of the website and not with the functionalities that are added to it. First based on the look of the website only any one will show interest to visit the website and to stay there for few minutes. Any way now a days web designing is rocking.

Web design is a very creative job while designing any professional site, we have to think out of the box to create the best web design which is beautiful, easy to use and understand etc. So, be tuned with upcoming web design trends for better services.

Great Post -Adding to point one the power of an image, it is not only important to have it high quality,Also, off-canvas menus are another thing I’m not a huge fan of because it does take time for users to get accustomed to it.

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Thanks for sharing this wonderful information. The trends you have mentioned are really great. I would love to come back again on your website to have a look at some more wonderful posts. In the mean while you can check my website too: http://www.skywaltzlabs.com

Very informative post… navigation and image are really helpful… one point that all are discussing here for browser compatibility is must for any successful website.. all point i am using in my ebsite Design Toronto and getting great result.

Very informative post… navigation and image are really helpful… one point that all are discussing here for browser compatibility is must for any successful website.. all point i am using in my <a href="http://www.sonitek.ca&quot; Website Design Toronto and getting great result.

Very informative post… navigation and image are really helpful… one point that all are discussing here for browser compatibility is must for any successful website.. all point i am using in my Website Design Toronto and getting great result.

Okay 2014 is almost over and when I read over this post I think the most outstanding and important thing is Typography. In the beginning Parallax was cool but I think it will be something else soon. But Typography can be just so good these days. I experience it almost everyday in my Webagentur Schweiz that websites with more or less unique Typography is outstanding.

I have use modern approach for the designing of my websites. I have found some new info in your post. I personally appreciate your work, you have done good job and for more better designs I suggest you to take a look at http://www.websitedesigning.ae/ I designed it.

I thought this looked good, then realised that they are all concepts….. I don’t mean to be rude, but it is easy to knock up a ‘concept’ in photoshop… much more difficult to actually implement it in reality…

Great points. I think animated links and CSS3 got more attention in 2014 and its increasing as well. Website looks more awesome with some animations in it. One more trend you can see is Flat design in 2014 after affecting big companies like Google, eBay etc.lot’s of small business websites are also trying the same web trend.

Web design covers many different aspects including website layout, content production and graphic design. While web design and web development terms often used interchangeably, the Web design is technically a subset of the broader category of Web design

There are many more importance of responsive webdesign but i
would like to share with you 7 more importance of responsive webdesign. just
read 7 more advantage of responsive webdesign and that is Increase sales and
conversion rates, Consolidate your analytics and reporting, Increase your
visibility in search engines , Save time and cost on mobile development, Save
time and cost on site management, Enhance user’s offline browsing experience. I
also would like to give you congratulation for this great content. And 1 more website name I also would like to add with you that is http://www.devsteam.com

Now a days flat designs are really in motion. I have seen many sites with flat coloring or with flat designs. Parallax scrolling is also the new trend of websites now a days. From the above designs I also got some new ideas for my projects. Thanks for sharing.Affordable Web Development Services

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With every new year we will get new trends in Website design. I tend to compare it sometimes to fashion on the high street; it is impossible to keep up but everyone is trying their hardest to do just that

I love some of these trends, especially the parallax designs. Take a look at Urban Media Watfords site. They are a web design company so should be sticking to these trends; what do you think? – http://bit.ly/1GDQIRL

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Webdesigning trend of big background images.But that trends is appeared in few years ago,now a days we see the new website design and also lot of videos or images helpful. Website looks like clean, very visual look. Webdesign is creative for pages. It belongs to more popular and less popular brands.
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1. Gestures are the new clicks
2.The fold really is dead this time
3. Users are quicker, websites are simplifying
4.The pixel is dead
5. Animation is back
6. Components are the new frameworks
7. Social saturation and the rise of direct email Webdesign Courses in Chennai with placements

Great article! Very helpful most especially these days where we have different screen sizes (tablets, laptops and mobile devices). This is great for usability and user experience.

I’ve also created my website in “responsive” style, but I call him “adaptive”. I’ve created different styles for standard and wide screens but not for small. May be after this post and I’ll complete my css and for my site resolutions. http://www.webbased.me, also helps me in building the css part of my site, but form your site i have learnt a lot….

Hi… This blog sounds great. Overall is excellent. I love this. But need to improve to explain in deep and listing the factors specifically. But still it’s awesome and knowledgeable. I realized that they are all concepts….. I don’t mean to be rude, but it is easy to knock up a ‘concept’ in photoshop… much more difficult to actually implement it in reality…Nice Work!!! Visit our website:- http://uberdigit.com